Told to take down stables on skids??

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sparky1981

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help!we have been told by the council to take down our 2 stables that are on skids. I thought they were allowed as moveable and no fixed base?but they are saying everyone thinks that but their not legal as they find although they are moveable how often would you actually move them! So they consider them a permanent structure!anyone else had any problems like this?is this right?
 
Never heard of that, it doesn't actually matter if you move it or not the fact of the matter is it can be moved, tow it to a different area of your field if they are that concerned :p.
 
So move it? Do you know a farmer who wold come with a tractor And move it for you once every 3 months or so? Wouldn't have to be far either 3 foot one way then 3 foot the other as long as you have proof/ evidence & a witness. Or a winter position and a summer positions. More and more councils are doing this though. Just give them a fight! How offten Do some caravans move once a year/ twice a year. Just prove it is moving!
 
If you can prove it is being moved regularly, ie. A few times a year, then it is still classed as a moveable structure and as such doesn't need planning permission.

I think councils are clocking on to the fact that lots of people use this 'loophole' to put up field shelters but then never ever move them so are therefore breaking planning laws
 
This has come up before with people not moving them and then them becoming essentially a permanent structure. Particularly as some of them are so large that even theoretically they would be very difficult to move at all!
 
Charlie77 said:
So move it? Do you know a farmer who wold come with a tractor And move it for you once every 3 months or so? Wouldn't have to be far either 3 foot one way then 3 foot the other as long as you have proof/ evidence & a witness. Or a winter position and a summer positions. More and more councils are doing this though. Just give them a fight! How offten Do some caravans move once a year/ twice a year. Just prove it is moving!
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I was told it needed to be moved a substantial amount on a regular basis, although they wouldn't define what they thought was substantial or regular. One of my field shelters has now been there over 10 years so they couldn't say anything about that one now. The other is on wheels and is moved out of my winter field, along the road about 100m and into the summer field so there is no way they can challenge that one! When my horse was on restricted turnout we used to move it up the field every couple of days so he had new grass and could 'live out'.
 
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There was quite a few on this forum with the same problems a while back - and I think H&H did a feature on it too. Stables on skids are often classed as permanent structures as I understand it. Usually because they don't actually move, or don't move far enough. In all reality it comes down to how much you are prepared to argue about it. Whether the council is right or wrong if they get to the point of serving an enforcement notice or pursuing the matter through a court it is going to get rather expensive rather quickly. You could get some good legal advice and try to scare them off at the start? From a professional rather that a forum!
 
sparky1981 said:
help!we have been told by the council to take down our 2 stables that are on skids. I thought they were allowed as moveable and no fixed base?but they are saying everyone thinks that but their not legal as they find although they are moveable how often would you actually move them! So they consider them a permanent structure!anyone else had any problems like this?is this right?
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Which area do you live in sparky1981 - that often has a bearing?
 
Although there are field shelter suppliers who advise that planning consent is not necessary if the shelter has ‘skids’ attached and is therefore deemed as ‘mobile’, this only applies if it is positioned on grass. If however you position the shelter on a pad of road plainings, (ie have a permanent location), then planning will be required.
Planning relates to ‘ease of actual’ (not possible movement), ie if the shelter is seldom or never moved, you require planning permission, and are likely to receive a letter from your local planning officer requesting the structure be removed and/or a retrospect application for its use.
The same rules also apply to show and cross country jumps.
 
Different councils will have different rules - but if you actually move them (and have photos to prove it) then very difficult for them to argue that they are permanent. Move them a good long way now (before getting a tractor on your land will trash it), then move them again in 3/4 months deep in winter when there is a proper hard frozen ground period (and again won't trash) and start the argument with the council. they will probably get bored after a while and move on to an easier target.

Or apply for retrospective planning - it might be cheaper if you think you'll get it
 
The link between SJs and planning is to do with use of the land - if you just graze horses you can use agricultural land - but JUST graze them is it, there is even challenge if you feed them hay in the field.
If you want to SJ in your field (or school, or feed hard feed or do anything other than graze) then it needs to be amenity land - which requires planning permission for the change of use. It's not the SJs themselves that require planning - as clearly they are not permanent - but the change of use is.
 
Polos Mum said:
The link between SJs and planning is to do with use of the land - if you just graze horses you can use agricultural land - but JUST graze them is it, there is even challenge if you feed them hay in the field.
If you want to SJ in your field (or school, or feed hard feed or do anything other than graze) then it needs to be amenity land - which requires planning permission for the change of use. It's not the SJs themselves that require planning - as clearly they are not permanent - but the change of use is.
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Yes this. Thankfully we have nice neighbours.
 
EquiEquestrian556 said:
What? Seriously? Never heard of that in my life. So you 'need' planning permission if you have SJs in the same spot all the time?!......
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Don't panic if they been there for I think it is fifteen years ,that is that you or someone else have used the land for that purpose for fifteen years there's not a thing anyone can do .
 
If you can prove the land is agricultural (holding number) and have farm livestock, there is a new permitted development, at least in Scotland. The building needs to be below a certain size and "requisite for farming", then no planning permission or prior approval is needed. I know about this because my new city boy neighbour decided to start to put up a 12m x 24m shed right next to my access road for farming his 2 acres. (He is a builder by trade, so one guess what it would actually be used for). Hopefully, he has now changed his mind...but of course I now have an enemy for life and am expecting all sorts of fun and games!

Are deer ponies agricultural as they are used to "work the land"? "Livestock" is defined in the Agriculture (Scotland) Acts and includes any animals bred for meat, hides, wool, etc. or used for working the land. One test is indeed whether a majority of the feed is produced on the holding and items like show jumps could certainly be cited to indicate that the land is "amenity" and not agricultural (so might involve a change of use). I suspect there could be some fun ahead!:)

If in doubt, consult an agricultural/equine lawyer or a good land agent and don't rely on advice from an Internet forum (let alone me!).
 
a neighbour put an old lorry body on his fiel for his pony as a field shelter. this is in a National Park. a woman who lives in the village and moans about everything complained. The council told her as it was moveable he could leave it where it was it didnt need planning permission either as no sub soil was moved and no hard base put down.
Hope this helps.
OP are you a BHS member? you can phone their legal help line if you are.
 
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